


Viscarias At Sunrise

by cywscross



Category: Bleach
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Developing Relationship, Don't copy to another site, Future Fic, Introspection, Light Angst, M/M, Pre-Slash, ShinIchi Week 2019, Trust Issues
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-17
Updated: 2019-02-17
Packaged: 2019-10-26 05:15:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,450
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17739698
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cywscross/pseuds/cywscross
Summary: In the aftermath of the Quincy War, everyone’s busy with cleanup and reconstruction and recovery, not to mention the adjustment period of an entire society as people get used to the various changes in the social order.But apparently, even with half the city in restless shambles, there’s never not enough time for relationship drama.





	Viscarias At Sunrise

**Author's Note:**

> For ShinIchi Week 2019: Day 1 - Trust, Day 3 - Canon Divergence

 

Ichigo’s just finished his daily check-in on Urahara and Yoruichi at the Fourth - they’re both still restricted to bedrest but Isane, and more importantly Tessai, say they’ll make a full recovery - and he’s debating whether or not he has time for a short lunch break before diving back into the manual labour that is post-war cleanup, when Shinji finds him.

He hasn’t seen much of the captain since the war began. And of course there was that seventeen-month period of absence after the Winter War when Ichigo lost his powers.

It’s been a little weird, Ichigo won’t lie. Not even just with Shinji; it’s been a little weird with everyone. It’s not like he knew the Shinigami for very long, all told, and a handful of months and a war does not a lasting connection make, probably especially to a bunch of people with centuries-long lifespans.

So mostly, it was his own expectations that let him down, that disappointed him when his friends - Shinigami and Human alike - pretty much all cut ties with him, and once he’d regained the missing parts of his soul and was no longer spiralling quite as badly from both the isolation and the Fullbringers’ mindfuckery, Ichigo had been very careful not to show how much the depressed, bitter, downright _spiteful_ part inside him had blamed them - all of them - for the betrayal.

There had been no betrayal, after all. Ichigo’s always been vaguely aware that he was the sort of person who clung too fiercely to people he cared about, no matter how short or long a time he’d known them. It worked for him though, or so he thought. On hindsight, he thinks it’s only because _he_ had never been the one forced to depend on such ridiculously soppy things like bonds of friendship and loyalty that it worked at all.

Because if his friends or family needed him, he was _there_. Always. Whether they were his friend for a week or a month or a year or five years, whether they were someone as annoying as Ishida or as precious as Yuzu, Ichigo would never even consider turning his back on them if they needed his help, no matter how dangerous with a probable side of death it could be.

He… probably should’ve stopped to wonder if that kind of be-all-and-end-all relationship was mutual. Reasonably speaking, most people don’t risk life and limb and soul for just anybody after all. Ichigo may think it’s no big deal just because he believes those he calls _his_ should always be worth everything he can give them, but it’s probably long past time to quit measuring _other_ people by his own crazy standards, if only because he’s come to realize that - subconsciously or otherwise - he’s been using his mother as a benchmark.

Kurosaki Masaki died for him, without hesitation. But that is what a good _parent_ should do, not _everyone_ , so of course nobody else measured up. And it’s not right for Ichigo to expect anybody except himself to match that kind of self-sacrifice and devotion. That’s just stupid, and he has no one but himself to blame when his expectations aren’t met.

So he’s more cautious these days, ever since the Fullbringer disaster. Cautious about making sure nobody ever finds out how much they hurt him, because that’s just _embarrassing_ , but cautious too about how much of himself he gives people nowadays. He can’t change who he is, the fundamental parts of him that will never _not_ rush to the defense of those he cares about. But he’s cautious about how much he lets himself expect from his friends and even family now, about never crossing that invisible line in the sand again, the one he hadn’t even realized he’d been trampling over for the longest time, and likewise, because of this caution, it’s… easier nowadays to separate the people he would rend the universe apart for - still probably more than is advisable but at least it’s not anyone and everyone under the sun anymore - and the people he can take a step back from.

For the most part, he thinks he’s been successful. The Quincy War has been a prime example - he couldn’t exactly stay out of it, especially since Yhwach had obviously been gunning for him from the beginning, not to mention the bastard had had a hand in _his mother’s death_ , but at the same time, he couldn’t just _let_ his friends fight for their lives on their own, couldn’t let Ishida be an idiot all on his lonesome either, so of course Ichigo came and he fought and he nearly died a couple times facing off against the final boss before finally coming out triumphant.

Par for the course. And this time, he didn’t even have to sacrifice his soul, so obviously he’s doing something right.

Of those he knows on the Gotei’s side, most everybody came out alive, if also varying degrees of injured. But the Seventh Division captain is somehow a permanent wolf now - nobody can explain it to him properly - and Kurotsuchi’s lieutenant is dead, and even Unohana’s gone, which stuns Ichigo more than anything else, and is actually the main reason he keeps making trips to the Fourth. No offense to the healers there, but barely any of them have left a particularly reliable impression on Ichigo during the entire course of their acquaintance the way Unohana had. He trusts Hanatarou, but Hanatarou is one guy, not the person in charge, and would probably be the first to admit that he still has a long way to go before reaching Unohana’s skill level. So it had been a relief when Ichigo had made a quick detour to the Shouten, and Tessai had immediately packed his bags and followed Ichigo back to Seireitei before low-key bullying his way into taking over the Fourth. Problem solved.

The old man’s dead too, along with his lieutenant. Ukitake’s gone as well, which Ichigo has some mixed feelings about. There’s some solid rumours going around the elite ranks that the new Soul King will be Yhwach’s _corpse_ , and how that works, Ichigo doesn’t know, but nobody seems to want to explain that to him either.

He supposes he’ll just have to wait for Urahara to tell him, once the guy’s healed enough so that he’s actually awake more often than not. He’d been a mess of scars and burns when Nel dragged him - and Yoruichi - to Ichigo, and then helped him deliver them to the Fourth. They’d both exhausted most of their reiatsu too, which meant Ichigo had had to stick around to donate some of his own, enough to keep them alive long enough for their bodies to begin recovering without outside help. But they’ve been in the clear for a few days now, and woke up just yesterday, so Ichigo only drops by to visit before heading back out again. Anything he wants to know can wait until Urahara’s at least back on his feet.

The shopkeeper’s actually pretty good about keeping Ichigo informed these days, even when Ichigo doesn’t ask. Ichigo thinks, of the few people who saw through the instant acceptance and forgiveness Ichigo doled out all around after Ginjou was taken care of, Urahara was at the top of the list. In his own way, he’s still trying to make up for that, with information and updates and hot meals and free reign of his training grounds. Which were pretty much all things Ichigo already had access to before he lost his powers; he just doesn’t need to nag as much anymore, and Urahara’s just more proactive about it. If Ichigo doesn’t show up at the Shouten at least once every two weeks these days, he gets _phone calls_.

It’s weird, but he’s learned to roll with it, and knowing Urahara is both genuinely sorry - again - and also literally the only one who even tried - and succeeded of course - to repair what the Final Getsuga Tenshou broke in Ichigo makes forgiving the shopkeeper a hell of a lot easier than others.

Not that Ichigo hasn’t forgiven them. He has, as much as he can. But he knows better now, learned from his mistakes and all, and where once he probably would’ve taken one look at everything from Rukia’s mopey downcast expressions to Kyouraku’s strained smiles, and promptly ran off back to the Soul King’s Palace to try and find a way to fix it, this time, Ichigo just… doesn’t. When he heard the list of deceased, he took a step back and suppressed the twinge of guilt he felt for his part - however unwilling - in Ukitake’s death, but he remained… _detached_ enough to _know_ that it wasn’t his fault. He searched for the urge to charge off anyway and do battle against the very order of the universe itself, and he was relieved to find nothing of the sort.

Ukitake wasn’t one of his. And it’s not Ichigo’s responsibility to shoulder Rukia’s - and most definitely not Kyouraku’s - grief. If Rukia wants to storm the Palace for some kind of death-reversal loophole for her captain, then Ichigo would probably go with her, but otherwise, he thanks every deity he’s ever heard of that he’s finally learned to differentiate risking his life because it’s _necessary_ and throwing his life away. Granted, his margin for what’s necessary is still probably what most people would consider overkill, but at least there _is_ a margin now.

Progress.

Kyouraku does ask if Ichigo can stick around to help with cleanup though, and since that’s a reasonable enough request, plus Ichigo technically contributed to the mess, he agrees and doesn’t mind the heavy-lifting. He’s not even missing school - thankfully, his last exam took place right before Urahara called him about Hueco Mundo, so at least Yhwach had good timing. Ichigo _did_ have a job, at a café, but considering the fact that he’d already missed over a week of work by the time the war ended, he’d figured he’d long since been fired, and there was just no point rushing back to England.

So. Here Ichigo is, still in Seireitei and splitting his time between visiting his hospitalized friends and helping the Shinigami minions cart rubble around. Or at least Ichigo assumes they’re the minions. They kind of feel really weak to his senses, and Ichigo didn’t know any of them before he started working with them. Also all the higher-ups who aren’t stuck at the Fourth seem to be busy doing paperwork or something so he supposes it’s not so surprising that all the physical labour’s been foisted off on the lower-ranking officers. And Ichigo.

At least they’re finally calming down around him. When he first showed up, most of them were torn between awe and fear, and it was hella irritating but when Ichigo simply rolled up his sleeves and got to work, well, it still took a tedious week and a half but they seem to have relaxed in his presence, and some of them even talk to him now without all the saluting and bowing and stiff formalities. Well, still some saluting, but mostly only at the start and end of each day, and Ichigo figures it’s the best he’ll get for the time being.

He decides, now, that lunch wouldn’t hurt. Besides, the First needs plenty of maintenance and repair too so he might as well work there today.

He turns and heads for the captains’ lounge at the First. Kyouraku doesn’t seem to care, and because all the captains are busy (or dead, or wolfed), and all the division compounds have their own mess halls anyway, nobody frequents the lounge, which is really just for occasions where captains get together for less formal meetings, and those don’t happen very often. As a morbid bonus, with so much of the First Division wiped out from the war, the First’s cooks haven’t had much to do, so they always have time to feed Ichigo if he happens to swing by at mealtimes, and even the rest of the compound doesn’t seem to mind Ichigo holing himself up in the lounge for some peace and quiet.

Heck, Ichigo started sleeping there three days in - easier than commute via Garganta every evening, especially since all the Shinigami seem to have collectively forgotten that Ichigo doesn’t actually have anywhere to stay in Soul Society - and all that happened after the first night he crashed on one of the couches was the futon and extra sheets he found outside the door in the morning. He took that as blanket permission to make the room his temporary home, and nobody’s complained so far.

“Ichigo!”

Ichigo pauses mid-stride, then turns back. The familiar head of blond hair catches his eye immediately as the captain himself sweeps towards him, haori flapping with every step.

“Hirako.”

Shinji offers a grin in greeting, but even as he comes to a stop mere feet in front of Ichigo, a slightly strained tension makes that distance seem much wider.

 _It’s been a little weird,_ Ichigo thinks again, _with everyone but also with no one so much as Hirako Shinji._

If anybody could be said to have kick-started Ichigo into finally noticing that he is in fact attracted to other people, it would probably - definitely - be Shinji. Not that it was a terribly exciting revelation; mostly, it just made him realize why girls don’t really interest him that way. At the end of the day, realizing you’re gay isn’t actually all that important in the greater scheme of things when you’re literally transforming into feral pseudo-monsters and bipedal lizards every time you turn around, all while a very real chance of death hangs over your head. Figuring out he’s attracted to guys was at least something that made _sense_ , it was - for once - a perfectly normal teenager issue to have, one that he didn’t have to worry might kill him, even if it was also kind of annoying because… well.

Probably because of this asshole in front of him.

Maybe it would be more accurate to say that Shinji kick-started him into noticing he’s attracted to _one_ guy in particular. It’s not like Ichigo can’t appreciate pretty people, especially when he’s been surrounded by them for years, and he’s not so busy in university that he hasn’t poked his nose in a couple bars and nightclubs out of curiosity. But apparently, he has a _type_ , and it just so happens to be blond, capable of kicking ass, and a bit of a bastard.

It was a _crush_ , as embarrassing as it is to admit now and even more back then, and it didn’t help that Shinji liked to tease. All those late nights at the warehouse when the others had already gone to bed, staying up because Ichigo couldn’t sleep, and Shinji insisted on keeping him company and teaching him more than just how to fight with his Hollow mask on, like certain zanjutsu styles that cut down on unnecessary movement and even some basic kidou that nobody had ever bothered asking if Ichigo would like to learn.

Well, Shinji hadn’t asked either. But he’d hammered the lessons into Ichigo anyway because “there’s no such thing as knowin’ too much when you’re about ta fight in a war damn it, why do ya not know this, this, this, _or_ this yet???” So Ichigo learned, and it was nice to have a teacher as patient as Rukia never was and as willing to explain things as Urahara couldn’t seem to understand how to do.

But there was also plenty of time for cracking jokes and striking up smalltalk too, and that was as much appreciated as the Visored’s determination to make sure Ichigo had as many tools for survival at his disposal as he could possibly give him was.

Shinji was good at both, lightening the mood and never letting Ichigo brood too much, while also preparing him as best he could for the battles ahead. And unlike Urahara and - even more - Isshin, the Visored didn’t have a habit of being frustratingly vague or feigning oblivious uselessness either when it came to giving Ichigo actual information about stuff he needed to know.

They talked about the war, sometimes, and Aizen, and the possible reasons that led to the latter’s decision to turn against the Shinigami. They talked too about Soul Society and the Gotei and even the Soul King. Shinji was the first person to actually sit him down and explain the afterlife to him, everything from hierarchy to career to education to government, far more detailed than Rukia or Urahara ever managed, and he never - intentionally or otherwise - made Ichigo feel stupid for not knowing either.

And near the end, one night, Shinji broke out the alcohol, shared it with Ichigo, and was five bottles in before he told him about the Hollowfication incident a century ago, about Aizen being his lieutenant, about betrayal and monsters and a whole society - superiors and friends and colleagues alike - who couldn’t even be bothered to carry out a proper investigation for the men and women who’d sweated and bled and served them faithfully for so long.

(Sometimes, Shinji had confessed, he could see why Aizen was so discontent with it all. With them. With the system. With everything.)

Ichigo never told another soul, just as Shinji never breathed a word about the stumbling tale Ichigo had slurred out, of mothers and Hollows and a corpse in the rain, and half a childhood gone overnight. He _did_ laugh his ass off in the morning though, the fucker, when Ichigo woke up with his first hangover ever and swore never to drink again.

All in all, the course of their acquaintance was always like that. Shinji struck an easy balance of light humour and serious gravity with him, matching Ichigo blow for blow in their spars and banter but just as capable of sitting silently when Ichigo just wanted some quiet company. The other Visored were fun enough to be around most of the time, but half of them were too violent or hyperactive when taken in anything more than small doses, and Ichigo never clicked as well with any of them as he did with Shinji.

With all of that in mind, is it at all a surprise that he ended up growing _feelings_ for the man? It was… inconvenient, to say the least, and Shinji didn’t exactly help once he realized, which probably wasn’t hard since Ichigo didn’t exactly have experience hiding that sort of thing. He wasn’t cruel about it though, which Ichigo was grateful for, and because nothing changed, they both understood that when Shinji flirted with him, something he’d been doing since Ichigo arrived at the warehouse - much to Hiyori’s disgust - because the man had a weird sense of humour, he only did it to make Ichigo scowl and blush something fierce.

It was a gentle let-down and Shinji’s usual playful teasing all in one, and it wasn’t as if Ichigo expected his feelings to be returned when he figured out what was happening. He’s never been attracted to anyone before the blond Visored but he’s read enough books and seen it in enough of his peers to recognize it and know that you just had to wait long enough for the crush to go away on its own.

So he doesn’t want to say the captain strung him along— it wasn’t like that at all, at least not in the _pursuit of a romantic relationship_ sense.

But, well.

He thought they were friends. That was what made the crush bearable, that he could admire Shinji’s strength and continue hanging out with him, and Shinji would still treat him the same way, would still like him, and the crush would fade over time.

But then the war was fought and finished, Aizen was sealed and imprisoned, and Ichigo’s job was done.

His usefulness had come to an end.

And so everyone left, from Chad to Rukia to Urahara to the Visored. Even his own family, to some extent, which Ichigo expected from Isshin, so that was fine, but not his sisters, so that… wasn’t so fine.

It was never just Shinji, so Ichigo supposes it isn’t entirely fair of him to blame the man a little more than he does almost anyone else, and he hates that Shinji’s abrupt radio silence in the aftermath of the war was probably the one that had stung most.

He hadn’t known Shinji long. But, he thought, they got along better than Ichigo did with most people, and the man’s absence - no visits, no calls, not even a relayed goodbye via Urahara - had been… a more difficult blow to take than Ichigo will ever willingly confess to.

(In his worst moments during those long lonely months, it had been very easy to believe that Shinji had only ever befriended him and trained him and earned Ichigo’s trust in order to better ensure that Ichigo would make the ultimate sacrifice for them when the time came. It was no secret that the Visored as a whole desperately wanted to see Aizen dead or at least defeated, no matter the cost.

Ichigo had been Urahara’s trump card. He knows that, and he knows too that Yoruichi and Tessai had known of that plan. Isshin as well. The former three had all offered apologies at one point or another, Urahara more than one. Isshin never would. Ichigo’s long since accepted it all and moved on.

But he’s never quite been brave enough to ask whether or not the Visored were in on it. Whether or not _Shinji_ was in on it.)

These days, he tries to frame it objectively, when he happens to think about it at all. With three captains gone rogue and all attempts at replacing them gone awry, Yamamoto probably hadn’t wasted any time inviting some of the Gotei’s former best and brightest elite back to Soul Society. There was also cleanup and paperwork and rebuilding and reintegration and who knows what else. The Visored had probably all been very busy, and they would’ve heard Ichigo had survived and had made a - sort of - full recovery.

They’d only known him for a couple months. That Ichigo was alive and still kicking had probably been enough for them.

Expectations are terrible things. But again, that’s on Ichigo, not anyone else. He’s pretty sure, now, that Shinji had meant no offense, when he cut off all contact with Ichigo. He isn’t that kind of person, as far as Ichigo has been able to tell, and he’s been perfectly friendly since Ichigo started interacting with the Shinigami again. And sometimes, when Ichigo returns to Karakura for his fortnightly visits at the Shouten, Shinji would be there too, presumably when he could spare the time and felt like it. Certainly, Ichigo sees more of him these days than most of the other Gotei officers.

But still, there is this distance between them. Ichigo would still trust Shinji on the battlefield, at his back, but… probably only so long as he’s certain they have a common enemy. He doesn’t much trust the Visored with anything else these days, not the way he used to, and he’s pretty sure Shinji knows it too— the first time Ichigo saw him again, he’d called him _Hirako_ ( _a little bitterness, a little spite, but mostly no more trust to spare_ ) instead of his given name the way he’d been invited to - and had done - halfway through his stay at the warehouse. In response, Shinji’s entire expression had tightened with too many emotions to name, before he’d shut it down again just as abruptly.

Such a small thing, but significant enough for both of them to understand. Shinji’s never confronted Ichigo about it though, and Ichigo hasn’t called him anything else ever since.

(They’re friendly, but some days, Ichigo’s not even sure if they’re friends anymore.)

It’s not fair, Ichigo knows. But there had been people he’d trusted just a little more than others, and Shinji had been one of them. His stupid feelings and teenage hormones hadn’t helped. And so the betrayal - however much it only exists in his mind - lingers anyway, with Shinji more than anyone.

(Most of all, he wants to know _why_ , why Shinji would cut all contact like that without so much as a backwards’ glance, just as much as he _doesn’t_ want to know.)

“I’ve been meanin’ ta see how you’re doin’,” Shinji says now, bridging the tension with his usual  bulldozing steel, and flicking a brief but critical eye over Ichigo instead like he’s searching for lasting injuries. “But ya’ve been all over the city, and I’ve been stuck with way too much paperwork.” He makes a face. “One o’ the worst things a war generates. I literally haven’t left my office in a week.” He pauses to glance at the Fourth Division compound, then arches an enquiring eyebrow at Ichigo. “I hear ya’ve been busy too though. Kyouraku’s roped ya inta helpin’ with the cleanup?”

Ichigo shrugs. “Yeah, but I kinda contributed to the mess too, right? And I have the time, so I might as well.” He hesitates for a second, then jerks his chin in the general direction of the First. “I was just about to go for lunch though. If you’re free at the moment, d’you wanna come?”

Shinji’s eyebrows shoot up. Ichigo doesn’t blame him. The only meals they eat together these days is when they both happen to be at the Shouten when Urahara or Tessai cooks.

But, “There’s something I wanna go over with you,” Ichigo clarifies, and whatever Shinji feels about that, he doesn’t show it, only blinking once even as Ichigo elaborates, “Kyouraku-san asked me to work on some stuff for him. I could use a second opinion.”

Shinji blinks again, then acquiesces with an easy roll of his shoulders and a nod. When Ichigo turns again towards the First, the Visored captain quickly falls into step beside him.

“So,” Shinji prods as they begin to walk. “How were your exams? What classes are ya takin’ next semester?” He smirks, but for a moment, Ichigo thinks he catches a glint of Hollow gold in the man’s eyes. It’s there and gone in a heartbeat, and then Shinji is asking in almost gleefully cackling-supervillain tones, “Any boys or girls catch your discernin’ eye?”

Ichigo snorts. “My exams were fine,” He lists off. “There’s a couple Shakespeare courses I’m definitely signing up for next semester, and-” He very pointedly rolls his eyes at Shinji. “No, there are no boys, or girls, that’ve caught ‘my discerning eye’. Seriously, can you be any more juvenile?”

Shinji looks entirely too unrepentant. “It’s a legitimate question. You’re all grown up now. And Isshin’s been complainin’ about the lack of future grandchildren. Even Hitsugaya’s about ready ta freeze his balls off just ta give ’im somethin’ else ta whine about.”

Ichigo scoffs. This is why he doesn’t go home anymore. “Well he can keep complaining. I have no plans to settle down anytime soon. And dating’s not really for me, I think, much less a wife and kids.”

Shinji glances sidelong at him, and Ichigo tries not to show how much it irritates him that he can no longer read the blond’s more complicated expressions as easily as he used to.

Or maybe, back then, it was only easy because Shinji allowed him to read what he wanted. Maybe Ichigo never really knew how to read him at all.

“Not your thing right now, or jus’ not your thing in general?” Shinji enquires.

Ichigo frowns at him. Shinji cocks an eyebrow back.

“...If I dated someone, I’d want it to be something serious,” Ichigo said after a long few seconds of internal debate. “Which means I probably shouldn’t lie to them. Which I would have to do if I dated pretty much any human on the planet.” He shrugs. “But also, I’m just not interested in anyone.”

Shinji levels an impenetrable stare on him again, and abruptly, Ichigo’s done with this conversation. Whatever Shinji’s playing at, Ichigo has no patience for it, and he suddenly misses Urahara’s presence. If there was one constant about only ever seeing Shinji when Ichigo swung by the Shouten, it was that Urahara was always there, and Ichigo doesn’t think it’s a coincidence that the most intrusive topic Shinji ever asked was about the local food.

(Once, just once, Ichigo had stepped through one of his Gargantas straight into a heated argument in the next room. He hadn’t been able to hear what it was about, and both Shinji and Urahara had dropped it when they sensed him, but it hadn’t exactly taken a genius to figure out they’d been talking about him, nor had it been particularly difficult to pick up on the too-bright sharpness of Urahara’s smiles whenever he aimed them at Shinji that day.

Ichigo had… almost asked. But Shinji had left soon after, not even staying for dinner, and then Yoruichi and Tessai were there, and in the end, Ichigo had let the incident go.

Rule #1: Don’t stick your nose into something when you don’t absolutely have to, even out of curiosity. Possibly especially out of mere curiosity. It makes life a lot less… rollercoaster.)

“Come on,” Ichigo says abruptly, turning on his heel and gathering his reiatsu. “I’ve got some other stuff to do before my break is over so if I want actual food, the sooner we get this done, the better.”

And then he’s off, Shunpo taking him up and over the rooftops. He senses, a moment later, Shinji following him, so he doesn’t turning around to check as he heads directly for the First Division.

 

* * *

 

The First is, as always, a strange combination of almost eerily quiet and a muted hive of activity. There are still people around handling everything from paperwork to construction, but compared to the bustle of all the other squad compounds, the First is… lacking. Less conversation. Less buoyancy after the war.

Still, there are officers around to greet him when Ichigo strides inside. He’s given up on trying to convince everyone to quit saluting to him but at least the gesture is a lot more perfunctory these days than it was at the beginning. Also, nobody wastes time bowing anymore - mostly - so Ichigo will take what he can get.

But people do do double-takes when they see Shinji sweeping in after him, and they’re quicker and stiffer about snapping off salutes today. Still, nobody questions Shinji’s presence, and even one of the lower-seated officers who rushes up to them doesn’t spare the time to do anything more than dip her head in the captain’s direction before focusing on Ichigo.

“Kurosaki-san!” Itou exclaims, looking slightly out of breath. “I’ve been looking for you. Are you busy later today?”

“No more than usual,” Ichigo says dryly, because technically, he’s pretty damn busy every day. Before Itou can look more than slightly mortified though, he gives her a pointed look and forges on briskly, “What is it?”

Itou winces a little but obediently relays, “Okikiba-san wants to know if you’ll be available for patrol tonight. You know that a lot of our-” She stops, darts a glance at Shinji, and then draws herself up a little before continuing in somewhat more clipped tones, “We are slightly short-staffed at the moment, and Okikiba-san is concerned that quite a few are overworking themselves. Also, the reports we received from one of the districts is of activity from a group of Hollows stronger than most unseated officers can handle. All the remaining higher-ranked Shinigami are busy so...”

She trails off like she just remembered Ichigo’s _also_ busy, but Ichigo simply cuts her off with a wave of his hand. “Yeah, that’s fine. In fact, I’ll just take whatever other assignments are in that area too since I’m out there anyway. Where am I going?”

Itou brightens and quickly shuffles through the stack of files in her hands before removing a couple folders and handing them to Ichigo. “Those are the reports we received for Districts 52 to 58 in West Rukongai. I will inform Okikiba-san that they will be taken care of.” She falters for a moment. “We could assign you a team as well-”

“Nah,” Ichigo shakes his head, absently flipping through the top report before glancing up at Itou again. “That kinda defeats the purpose of giving people a good night’s rest in the first place, doesn’t it? I’ll be fine; I work better alone anyway. Just tell Okikiba-san that I’ll deal with any Hollows in the area, and I’ll make sure to do a whole write-up of the missions when I get back.”

Some of the tension from Itou’s shoulders ease even as she straightens and salutes, because of course she does. “Yes, sir! Good luck, and come back safely!”

And then she’s off, trotting back down the hall and around a corner, nose already buried in her reports again. A lot of the lower-ranked Shinigami who aren’t outside toiling over broken walls have been relegated to carrying messages back and forth, along with their usual duties, and that went double for the First. Itou could probably use a good night’s rest too.

Well, at least Ichigo can take these missions off some other Shinigami’s plate. He hasn’t had much of an opportunity to swing a sword around over the past two weeks anyway. This will be a good break from the monotony.

“This way,” He says to Shinji now as he heads for the captains’ lounge. The blond says nothing as they walk, but Ichigo can feel his assessing gaze on his back.

They pass one of the division cooks along the way. Behind an armful of tin pans, Hamasaki raises bushy eyebrows, glances briefly at Shinji, and then holds up two fingers at Ichigo. Ichigo nods, and the man grunts and continues on down the hall back towards the kitchens.

“He’ll make you lunch,” Ichigo explains to Shinji. “If you’ve already eaten, that’s fine too, I’ll just stick it in the fridge.”

Shinji shrugs. “I haven’t even eaten breakfast.”

They reach the captains’ lounge. Ichigo pauses outside the door, then sighs and looks around before calling out, “Tanaka!”

The unseated officer walking with a few of her squadmates down the hall jumps a little, eyes going wide when she spots Ichigo, but she’s quick to drop a word to her friends before parting from them and hurrying over. “Yes, sir? What can I do for you?”

“If you’re heading down for lunch, could you run by the kitchens and tell Hamasaki-san to make extras of whatever he’s cooking right now?”

Tanaka nods vigorously. “Yes, sir, right away.” She glances over at Shinji, and she doesn’t seem to recognize him, but the captain’s haori is telling enough, and she’s quick to fumble a bow before doing the same for Ichigo and then taking off again at a jog.

“You’re popular,” Shinji remarks as Ichigo lets them in.

Ichigo rolls his eyes. “Not really. But I’ve spent more time at the First than the rest of the city so the people working here know me pretty well. Also, Kyouraku-san’s still busy with the Eighth. He can’t dump all his responsibilities on Lisa just like that even though everybody knows she’s gonna be his successor. So mostly, Okikiba-san - the Third Seat - is in charge of juggling his own workload, the lieutenant’s, and half the captain’s. Everybody here’s overworked, so I just try to help when I can.” He scowls. “And apparently, helping with cleanup means everybody’s stupidly polite. I almost miss hanging around the Eleventh. At least Kenpachi just tries to stab me.”

Shinji barks out a laugh at that. “I think we’ve ruined your standards of normality.”

Well, he’s probably not wrong on that count.

The door shuts behind them, and Ichigo toes the still unrolled futon on the floor to one side to clear a path before motioning Shinji over to the couches and table, all of which are practically plastered with paper.

“Sit.” Ichigo quickly shoves some of the papers aside. “I’ll make some tea.”

He’s putting on the kettle when Shinji asks from behind him, “Are ya livin’ here?”

Ichigo reaches up to open one of the cupboards. “Yeah, it just sort of happened. I didn’t want to stay at the Shouten when nobody else was there, and Jinta and Ururu are staying in my room. Plus I just didn’t wanna deal with Goat-face. It was easier to just find someplace in Seireitei to crash in, and I stumbled on this room pretty early on.”

When he turns around, Shinji is frowning at him. “What?”

“Ya realize ya have family here, right?” Shinji points out. “Kuukaku? Ganju? Or if not them, I’m sure any of your friends would’ve been happy ta give ya room and board. Ya didn’t have ta find a random room ta stay in.”

Ichigo just shrugs in response. “I like my own space.”

Shinji arches an eyebrow, then glances first at the sea-green futon on the floor and then at the second one rolled up in the far corner, almost completely out of sight behind the couch by the wall.

Ichigo huffs a laugh. Of course Shinji would notice.

“Nel stays with me,” He elaborates. “She needs somewhere to sleep when she isn’t with Harribel and Grimmjow, and she doesn’t seem to mind, so.”

He shrugs again and turns back to the stove. There is, he supposes, the fact that he also trusts Nel enough to sleep around her, while Nel doesn’t trust anybody here _except_ Ichigo enough to fall asleep around them.

She participated in a war - two wars in fact - when she could’ve just as easily hidden herself away and stayed out of both. But she helped Ichigo in Hueco Mundo, and she came to warn him about the Wandenreich, and she fought when she didn’t have to. And then she saved Urahara and Yoruichi at the risk of dying herself when she had no obligation to, nor any personal investment in either of them. Just her own code of honour, and her friendship with Ichigo, and those things were enough.

Nelliel is someone who understands the kind of world-burning devotion Ichigo subscribes to, and isn’t it funny, that an Arrancar - one of the Hollows that every Shinigami would’ve sworn up and down couldn’t care about anything except hunger and violence - is capable of more loyalty than most people Ichigo knows.

Which makes Ichigo’s ongoing task that much more important.

“Anyway,” He turns back and jabs a finger at the sheaves of paper scattered on the table. “Take a look and tell me what you think.”

Shinji glances over the table, then unerringly fishes out the open folder with the assignment Kyouraku asked him to help with still clipped to it. For the next ten minutes, Shinji is silent, first reading the original file, then beginning to rifle through Ichigo’s mountain of notes. Ichigo makes two cups of tea before joining him, taking a seat on the opposite couch and sitting back to wait.

By the time Shinji looks up again, the meals have arrived, and Ichigo frowns at the blond until Shinji rolls his eyes and picks up a pair of chopsticks and one of the bowls of rice.

“...You’re proposin’ an alliance with the Arrancar,” Shinji says at last after swallowing a couple mouthfuls of food. “And actual laws for… non-Shinigami species.”

“Well I mean technically Kyouraku-san proposed them.”

“He basically told ya ta come up with a way ta keep tabs on Aizen’s ex-lackeys,” Shinji holds up the file, and his voice is calm as a lake on a clear summer day, but his eyes never waver from Ichigo’s face, and something bright and almost feverish glitter inside them. “All this-” He motions at the mini-explosion of paperwork. “-is unnecessary.”

It’s practically a reflex to scowl. “ _Unnecessary?_ ” Ichigo bristles, because- “Last I checked, Shinigami have a really bad habit of _murdering_ anything different from them. Anything they can’t control, anyone that isn’t _one of them_ \- their go-to answer is to kill. I checked your laws-” He cuts a hand at the pile of tomes and scrolls on the floor. “-and there isn’t a single sentence in there about offering asylum or home or even a damn _trial_ for anyone outside of the Shinigami! Not even the slightest bit of consideration for those who are different! And sure, sometimes, they had reason. But more often than not, Shinigami jump to execution without even thinking of another way, and they treat the entire species the same as they do the individual or group that committed a crime! And your Maggots’ Nest, for fuck’s sake! What even is that shit? Half the people in there are just _potentially_ dangerous to Soul Society! They’ve never even done anything wrong! Even when it’s one of their own, your government doesn’t even investigate to make sure they’re actually convicting the right person!” He slaps a hand on top of the table. “So this is absolutely necessary, especially after Yhwach and his crazies took a chunk out of Soul Society. It’s the perfect opportunity for Central 46 to convince themselves that the best way to prevent another war from outsiders is to get rid of _all_ outsiders. And even if that wasn’t a concern, there _should_ be laws for non-Shinigami races anyway! I thought you of all people would understand that!”

The silence rings between them after Ichigo finishes. Honestly, he can’t even believe he’s had to explain all that. This is _Shinji_. Who was exiled without a trial, would’ve been executed alongside half the Gotei’s captains and lieutenants on the word of one man, and he _doesn’t_ think the way Soul Society runs things is wrong?

Shinji’s staring at him. Ichigo’s jaw clenches before he forces himself to relax. He was hoping Shinji might provide some insight on some of the laws he’s begun drawing up, because for all that the Gotei wanted to kill him too at the beginning (and then planted that leash-badge on him just in case the fuckers ever decide it’s time to take away his powers), Ichigo has always been strong enough and/or useful enough to safeguard himself against the need to run and hide the way the Visored did. As someone who’s experienced the full extent of Central 46’s ignorance and prejudice and cruelty, Shinji could definitely offer ideas that would be helpful towards changing Soul Society for the better.

He never thought Shinji might _disapprove_. He thought this at least was safe to expect from the Visored. It benefited them after all.

“Ya know,” Shinji remarks in mild tones, cutting into Ichigo’s reeling thoughts. “Ya used ta have more faith in me.”

The silence returns, louder than ever. Ichigo stares at Shinji, then past him out the window.

He did, that’s true. Hell, he used to give everyone the benefit of the doubt, some more than others, but he certainly trusted more than was wise.

Then… well. He learned better.

A rustle of paper draws his attention back to the Visored, who’s picked up one of Ichigo’s bundle of notes as if he didn’t just basically cut right through every lingering issue between the two of them in a way he never has before. “All I meant was, Kyouraku probably doesn’t expect this of ya. He might not even approve. An’ even if he does, Central 46 _definitely_ won’t approve.”

Ichigo scoffs. “Like I care. Kyouraku-san asked me to handle this. Maybe not this way, but then he should’ve been more specific, shouldn’t he? Things need to change around here. I’m gonna make sure they do.”

Shinji puts down the notes and picks up his lunch again. He looks back at Ichigo, solemn and appraising, before a faint smile tips one corner of his mouth.

“Alrigh’ then,” The captain agrees, easily, readily, like there never could’ve been any other answer. “How can I help?”

Ichigo’s lips part, but he can’t quite find any words for several uncertain seconds. Shinji just watches him, sharp-eyed and patient and like he’d do anything it takes to make sure this little venture succeeds.

And that, at least, Ichigo _can_ trust. Shinji doesn’t do things halfway, and once he sets his mind to something, he’ll see it all the way through.

Aizen’s downfall took a century. Ichigo has no intention of these changes taking that damn long.

He nods curtly and picks up one of the back-and-forth missives Nel’s been delivering between him and Harribel.

“Tell me what you think of this.”

 

**Author's Note:**

> I have very little idea where this is going but I wanted to get something out, and I think I like this starting point for a ShinIchi relationship in the future.


End file.
